BMW will soon make its “BMW Personal Pilot 3” SAE Level 3 autonomous driving system available as an option in the new BMW 7 Series (excluding the i7 eDrive50 and the i7 M70 xDrive). The option will be available starting from Spring and in Germany only as a start. The system essentially allows you to focus on “secondary in-vehicle activities” when traveling at up to 60 km/h on motorways with structurally separated carriageways.
If you’re unfamiliar with the autonomous driving tiers, Level 3 is a step up from Level 2 autonomous driving, where Level 2 still puts the responsibility on the driver at all times – even with the automated driving system activated. Level 3 takes this responsibility away from the driver and allows you to focus on other secondary tasks. Example “secondary tasks” listed by BMW include editing your emails, engaging more deeply in telephone calls, and streaming online videos. All of which can be done legally in countries that approve it.
BMW’s Level 2 autonomous driving with the “BMW Highway Assistant” is already quite advanced and we’ve even tried this during our test drive with the BMW i5 in Europe. As advanced as it may be, it doesn’t take away the responsibility of driving from the driver entirely, unlike the Level 3 autonomous driving system.
The BMW Personal Pilot 3 system will indicate its readiness/availability via symbols behind the steering wheel. It is activated and deactivated by a button on the steering wheel. When the function is being used, the customer still has to be ready to reassume the task of driving at any time – i.e., as soon as the situation on the road requires them to or the stretch of road suitable for using the BMW Personal Pilot L3 comes to an end. Visual and acoustic signals let the driver know they have to take over control once more. If the driver does not respond as required, the vehicle is brought to a controlled standstill.
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The live HD map is permanently aligned with GPS location-finding and works with 360° sensors to ensure exact positioning and monitoring of the area around the vehicle. The live HD map is always up to the minute thanks to regular updates. In the new BMW 7 Series, this functionality is underpinned technologically by a new software stack, a computing platform, and a 5G link-up to the BMW Cloud.
Besides the cameras, vehicles specified with the BMW Personal Pilot L3 are also fitted with the latest-generation ultrasonic sensors and radar sensors and a highly sensitive 3D lidar sensor for monitoring the area around the vehicle and the situation on the road. This means that the BMW Personal Pilot L3 system also works well in the dark.
Only available in Germany for now, the BMW Personal Pilot L3 SAE Level 3 autonomous driving system is an optional feature for the BMW 7 Series (excluding certain variants). It will cost an additional 6,000 Euros (approx. RM30,000).
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